Reality: Material or spiritual?

Did you know that the horizon is always at eye level? If you sit down, the horizon appears to go down. If you stand up, the horizon seems to go up. If two people are next to one another, one sitting and one standing, they can argue all day long about where the horizon is located, and they won’t reach any agreement. Why? Their perspectives are different.

In order for people to be united, even at the most basic level, they must share some perspective on the fundamental nature of reality. In the broadest sense, there are two views of the nature of reality: either reality is primarily material or it is primarily spiritual. The first perspective holds that reality is made up of the things that are concrete—those things that you can experience with your senses. The perspective that the nature of reality is spiritual holds that this material world, the world perceived by your five senses, is not really “real.” True reality is something beyond this material world. This world is only a “transit lounge.”

The basis for the spiritual nature of reality comes primarily from religion. Most religions speak of an existence beyond this material existence. But even those that do not, or those belief systems that consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious,” place importance on non-materialistic concepts such as love, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, sacrifice and cooperation. Our happiness, our sense of fulfillment, lies in nurturing our spiritual nature.

Materialistic ideologies are often focused on acquisition. The thinking goes that we need to have more stuff and when we do, we’ll be happy. Two predominant ideologies of the twentieth century—capitalism and socialism—both have their roots in this materialistic view of reality. Their expressions differ vastly, but fundamentally, they are both ideologies concerned with material issues. They do focus on a positive outcome, namely, providing for people’s needs, but they view the needs of humanity as primarily material needs. They hold that happiness or a sense of well-being arise when our material needs are met or surpassed.

Of course, even those of us who have a spiritual understanding of the nature of reality also understand that we live in a material world. It is just that we seek to make decisions that pertain to this material existence not purely on a materialistic basis, but rather on a spiritual basis.

Ironically, many of us who think that our understanding of reality is spiritual, actually hold a rather materialistic view toward our spiritual side. We often treat our spiritual values or our religious beliefs as just one more “item” in our set of “possessions”—just another of the things we own, that we enjoy, and that we set aside at times, usually in order to pursue some form of acquisition. The challenge to those of us who hold a spiritual understanding of the nature of reality is to allow that understanding to permeate all of our actions and all of our decisions.

So, what does all of this have to do with better living? Well, for me it has been only recently that I have tried to give serious thought to the question of “What is my own understanding of the nature of reality?” and of course, the subsequent question, “Do I live my life in keeping with this understanding?” Do I believe that life is about giving and sharing, but at the same time live as if my goal is to acquire more goods? Is there a conflict between my beliefs and my actions? Such a fundamental conflict can be a major source of unhappiness, anxiety, crisis and general grumpiness. Spending a few minutes thinking about our own beliefs regarding the nature of reality can help us align our day-to-day actions with what we hope we believe. What are your perceptions of reality? What are our perceptions of reality as a community? I believe that most of us would like to believe that our perception of reality is fundamentally spiritual. Do we show this in our moment to moment life, in our interactions with the people we encounter day to day, in our family relationships, in our government positions, in our business dealings? The daily challenge is to align our activities in a material world with our spiritual aspirations.

Next week I’ll discuss how a spiritual perception of reality can expand our concept of economic development.

(David Khorram, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist, and director of Marianas Eye Institute. Questions and comments are welcome. Call 235-9090 or email eye@vzpacifica.net. Copyright © 2005 David Khorram.)